Dana Watts
Executive Director, Leave No Trace
The Basics
Company Name: Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
Location: Boulder, CO
Founded: 1994
Full-Time Employees and Equivalents: 18
Products: Resources, Research, Trainings, Education and Inspiration
Social: Instagram // Facebook // Twitter // YouTube
Claim to Fame: Utilizing the power of science, education and stewardship of people and partners, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics is an international organization on a mission to ensure a sustainable future for the outdoors—from the backyard to the backcountry—and the planet. As the organization behind the Leave No Trace Seven Principles, the Center conducts research and creates strategic partnerships to provide the most current, cutting-edge education possible.
The Culture
The best thing about working at LEAVE NO TRACE Is:
Everyone’s collective enthusiasm about the power of education instead of costly restoration and regulation to protect our shared natural world (and all the office dogs)!
When we’re not working, we’re:
cooking, playing Hearts, gardening, watching Netflix, picking up our neighbors’ dog poop, planning our next outdoor adventure searching for hand sanitizer on Amazon.
What we’re reading:
Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, The Adventure Gap by James Edward Mills, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.
What we’re listening to:
1619 New York Times Podcast, The High Low podcast, Brandi Carlile, Valerie June, Pink Floyd, NYT Daily.
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
When Nature Calls
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
everyone has an equal right and deserves equal access to the benefits of the outdoors from city spaces to wilderness areas. Research has shown that people are more likely to take action to protect an outdoor area and inspire stewardship in others when they have cultivated a love for an outdoor space. We believe in and are committed to working towards a world in which everyone is safe and welcome in the outdoors, in which all are equally included, represented, and have equal access to cultivate a personal connection that can inspire individuals to take care of the outdoors responsibly. As leaders in outdoor recreation, ethics and stewardship, we are committed to inclusivity in our work.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
the outdoor industry and the conservation community is more reflective of our county and our changing world. The Center as an organization develops, communicates and delivers programming and resources that are committed to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.